The convoy carries about 4,500 troops including the IJA’s 16th Regiment,
two battalions of the 230th Infantry Regiment and 824 men of the No. 4 Maizuru
Special Naval Landing Force ( SNLF) from Rabaul and Shortlands. The ships also
carry a battery of 100-mm guns and a battery of 150-mm howitzers, the 38th Field
AA battalion, the 45th Field AA Battalion, one company of the 47th Field AA
battalion, the 1st Company of the 38th Engineer Regiment, the 1st Independent
Tank Company, one section of the 38th Division Signal Company, ammunition and
provisions. Air cover is provided by the 11th Air Fleet and the R-Area Air
Force's floatplane fighters.

At 1400, about 100 miles from Shortlands’ anchorage, the convoy is
attacked by 30 aircraft of the ‘Cactus Air Force’. At 1530, a second attack
occurs. Both are ineffective however and the ships sustain no damage, the convoy
arriving at Shortlands later that same day.

13 October 1942:The convoy departs Shortlands and arrives at midnight
at Tassafaronga. Unloading operations are undergone.

14 October 1942:At dawn, Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters from carriers
HIYO and JUNYO and floatplane fighters of the R-Area Air Force provide cover
over the unloading operation. At 0600, a flight of six Grumman F4F "Wildcat'
fighters strafe the transports. One F4F is lost and another damaged as is a
floatplane fighter.

At about 1030, the transports are attacked by the “Cactus Air Force”
(later Air Sols) from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal with a force of 25 aircraft
including 12 Douglas "Dauntless" SBD dive-bombers, three USAAF P-39s and one
P-400 “Airacobra” fighters, eight F4F fighter and one PBY-5 “Catalina” armed
with two torpedoes. SASAKO MARU is hit and a fatal fire starts. She is beached
and becomes a total loss, but her troops, tanks, and guns are landed
successfully.

At 1145, NANKAI MARU, having completed her unloading, departs the area
escorted by destroyer ARIAKE.

At 1150, after most of the remaining transports had landed almost all of
their troops and heavy equipment, a flight of 11 B-17 “Flying Fortress” heavy
bombers from Espiritu Santo attack the transports. AZUMASAN MARU is hit and
beached.

At about 1330, in another American air attack, KYUSHU MARU is hit by a
bomb, set afire and beached. The two transports’ troops, tanks and guns are landed successfully, but
the tank fuel and ammunition they carried are lost. Both ships burn out and become total losses.